By 31 January 1968 the US had been fighting the Vietnam War for more than ten years, but the American people never thought they wouldnt win. The Tet Offensive changed all that. Over seven bloody months the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong launched hundreds of attacks across South Vietnam, hitting military and political targets, including the United States embassy. While the attacks in and around Saigon in the south were quashed quickly, there was a prolonged battle for the city of Hue in the north. The 77-day siege captured the imagination of the world as the US Marines fought a desperate battle against overwhelming odds. As the offensive petered out and the US military re-established control, the generals in Saigon and the politicians in Washington DC were forced to reassess their strategy for South Vietnam. Involving over 1.5 million combatants, of whom more than 50,000 were killed, not to mention the thousands of civilian casualties, the Tet Offensive was a bitter political victory for the communist forces. This book gives a clear, concise account of those dramatic days in 1968, supported by a timeline of events and orders of battle, and illustrated with over fifty photographs.
